Prince of Wolves - Tasha Black Page 0,25

ground.

Then Varik closed his eyes and sank into his wolf shape.

Instantly, the world around him visually diminished, and the scents and sounds expanded to take up his consciousness.

“Da,” Ronan chuckled from the ground between his paws.

Varik wasn’t the only one who had shifted. Ronan was no longer a wolf cub. He was a fae baby.

Varik smelled the sweet, clean scent of his boy and felt the little hands tangling in his fur.

Tomato-red happiness lit him up from inside, and he lowered his lupine head to lick Ronan’s chubby cheek.

The baby boy squealed with delight.

For about the thousandth time, Varik wished he could be in his fae form at the same time as the child, so he could hold him and talk to him.

But this was his punishment.

Guilt had driven him half-mad after he had exchanged Willow for Ashe those twenty-seven years ago.

When the crown of Winter had asked him to make another switch, he had been unable to do so. The queen had been so angry that she chose to punish him. He’d been given charge of Ronan, the fae baby he’d refused to exchange for a mortal.

But it came at a price. Little Ronan could only be in his fae form when Varik was a wolf, and vice-versa.

He had suffered the curse for years, but the end was finally in his grasp. The Winter Court had promised to lift the spell in exchange for the return of their princess.

In truth, the hope of freedom was the only thing stopping him from stealing the girl away and living on the run here in the mortal realm with her.

He had no doubt he could make it work.

But Ronan deserved better.

The poor babe had been stuck as a pup most of the time for a quarter of a century. Varik could seldom allow him to be Fae, and when he was, he had only a wolf to keep him company. If the curse wasn’t lifted, he would never grow up, never have control of his own form. He might even grow to be feral, to give into his wolf side completely, if the unnatural aspect of the curse began to set in.

Ronan plucked a blade of grass and gazed at it in wonder as Varik protectively curled his big furry body around the little one.

It was hard not to think about Ashe now.

He had a job to do.

And Ronan was his living reminder of the only fae contract he had ever failed to complete.

If the Winter Court sensed that he had grown attached to Ashe, what would they do to punish him if he didn’t drag her back?

He only knew it would be vicious, and that it would likely hurt Ashe as much as it hurt him.

He couldn’t allow that.

He loved her.

And he knew she had feelings for him. But for how long?

She doesn’t even know what I did…

Bitter shame rose in his chest.

He had not yet told her that he was the one who switched her at birth, changing her destiny and Willow’s.

What will she think when she finds out?

It would hurt her, that much he knew. He could not let her find out from someone else. And it was her right to know, he could not keep it from her any longer.

He had to tell her himself, though it might kill him to see her reaction.

If she doesn’t want me anymore, that’s her right…

But they could never build anything lasting without her knowing exactly what kind of man she was dealing with.

He would tell her in the morning. It was decided.

Ronan relaxed his little body against Varik’s furry belly, as if he too felt more at peace as soon as this important decision had been made.

I will help you somehow, Ronan.

If only I could find a way to bring her back, lift the curse, and still stay with her.

Somehow…

15

Varik

Varik awoke just before dawn at the silent urging of his traps being sprung.

He was up on all four feet in an instant, standing protectively over the still sleeping babe. He lifted his snout and scented the air - someone from Faerie was heading their way.

Not just one someone, several, and they were taking no pains to hide the sounds of their approach.

Varik sucked in another breath of the cold morning air and tasted them on it. There were three of them, two men and a woman. The bright scent of magic clung to them.

They moved into view, their figures silhouetted against the dark-blue sky.

They approached openly, and the woman even began